China to Halt Trading at Two Exchanges

China is halting trading at its stock exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen from Thursday to May 9 and may extend the closure until May 19 because of severe acute respiratory syndrome, an official of the Shanghai Stock Exchange said Monday.

The first five days of the closure will be a public holiday marking Labor Day. The government earlier pared the weeklong holiday to try to discourage people from traveling around the country and contain the spread of SARS.

The extended stock market closure would shut stock-trading halls, crowded gathering places in major cities where investors often spend the whole day.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission is in talks with officials from the two stock exchanges, who want trading halted until May 19.

Shanghai’s A-share index closed up 3.4% Monday, and its counterpart in Shenzhen was up 2.5%.